Section A kicks off the unit by introducing the technologies that power the Web. After reading this section, terms such as HTML, HTTP, hypertext, plug-ins, ports, and sockets should no longer be mysterious. Section B gets practical with some basic information on creating the HTML documents that your browser turns into Web pages before your very eyes. Section C goes beyond basic Web page technologies to introduce tools that make today's Web pages much more dynamic than the static, noninteractive pages of the past. Section D focuses on e-commerce and provides the information you need to avoid online security and privacy pitfalls. The unit wraps up with a TechTalk section on encryption.

When you complete this unit, you should be able to:

Describe the roles that HTML, XHTML, HTTP, URLs, browsers, and Web servers play in bringing Web pages to your desktop

Explain why cookies are useful in an environment that is based on a stateless protocol, and provide some concrete examples of their use

Identify some Web page design tools and discuss their advantages and their disadvantages

Describe how HTML tags, cascading style sheets, links, buttons. hot spots, frames, forms, and tables are used in the design and creation of Web pages

Identify the elements that typically form a Web page

Explain how to test and post Web pages

Describe how DHTML, XML, and XSL technologies work to enhance Web pages

List some advantages and disadvantages of using JavaScript, VBScript, Java applets, and ActiveX controls

Discuss why e-commerce has become so popular with consumers and merchants

List some threats to the security of credit card numbers and other sensitive data during e-commerce transactions

Describe how the following e-commerce technologies work:

shopping carts,
SSL,
one-time-use credit cards,
electronic wallets,
and person-to-person payment systems